Lighters, umbrellas, pen caps and guitar picks

Have you ever had the feeling that some objects have their own dimension? I’m willing to bet a good amount of money that everybody out there reading this already had. I’m talking about those objects you are sure are there where you left them, but suddenly are not.

I’m gonna stop beating around the bush here and get straight to the point: I’m talking about lighters, umbrellas, pen caps and guitar picks specifically. C’mon, how many of you never lost one of those objects and can’t believe it because you were sure they were where you left them.

Didn’t that make you think? Are you being 100% honest when you say the thought of this objects having some kind of a will of their own never crossed your mind? I know, it all sounds a little Stephen King-ish (imagine animated lighters, umbrellas, pen caps and guitar picks…) but it does make sense.

Either they have a will of their own and want to come back to their own dimension or we can speculate that beings like gnomes, goblins and maybe elves do exist and enjoy playing tricks on us.

Funny thing is: I’m not a smoker so I had no business putting lighters on my list, but I have friends who smoke who do complaint about their lighters missing suddenly. And it’s actually an amusing scene when they try to reach for them and can’t find them. They start patting themselves all over the body hoping that they maybe put it in some pocket they didn’t know they had. If they are at home, they start moving furniture, looking under the bed, the dining table or the rug.

Umbrellas are a little different. After all, they are rather large to all of a sudden disappear into thin air and never be found again. But for whatever reason one of everyday people favorite sports is to forget umbrellas somewhere and never find them again. You can argue that they might have been stolen, but who steals umbrellas? The fact is: they do disappear often and we are always sure we knew where we had left them.

Pen caps probably don’t represent that much of a problem as most pens don’t have caps anymore and there are a lot of people who don’t even use pens. They have their phones and their PCs. However, they were a nuisance to everybody not so long ago. The smallest distraction and it could end up on the floor never to be found again. It wasn’t a big deal with the cheaper kind (those that students like to chew the top and female porn characters like to lasciviously lick) but it pissed us off when it was the cap of fountain pens with university or team logos in it, because they were so beautiful.

I love music but I’m not a musician. I tried to play guitar when I was younger and failed miserably. However, as I am friends with many musicians and guitar players, I know for a fact that guitar picks must have their own realm. Stories about missing guitar picks abound among musicians but luckily they are normally not that special. But knowing about this phenomenon, when I manage to catch a pick thrown by Neal Schon at a Journey concert about ten years ago, I made sure to keep it in a safe place. You never know where it might go…

Okay, the blog is taking a break. We’ll be back after Easter.

Current playlist

Listening:

Blood Ceremony – The Eldritch Dark

Houston – s/t

Moxy – V

Watching:

Joe Bonamassa and Beth Hart – Amsterdam

Whitesnake – Video Hits (bootleg)

Fever Pitch

Be sure to check out my book “Straight And Lethal” winner of the NABE Pinnacle Awards 2014 Fall edition.